The College Football Playoff will open on Friday night, National Championship odds shift ahead of the first-round.

Of the four teams hosting games in the first round of this College Football Playoff, only one opened as a betting underdog: the Oklahoma Sooners, who on Friday night host an Alabama team they already defeated this season. The Sooners are well aware of that.

Writers from The Oklahoman and Tuscaloosa News provided their predictions for tonight's first-round CFP matchup between Sooners and Crimson Tide.

John Mateer shouldn’t necessarily need to rehash or reiterate why he chose to transfer to Oklahoma prior to this season. It is evident, with respect to his previous university, that there is a different prestige at his position around these parts.

The Oklahoma Sooners will likely be without starting center Jake Maikkula ahead of the Sooners CFP matchup with Alabama.

Alabama has a century-plus streak on the line on Friday in the College Football Playoff against the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman.

The Alabama Crimson Tide and Oklahoma Sooners meet Friday in a College Football Playoff first-round game. Kickoff in Norman, Oklahoma, is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.

A dedicated Oklahoma Sooners fan traveled from Atlanta to Norman for a high-stakes game, marking his first return to a home game in nearly two decades.

The Sooners are chasing history in the first round of the CFP. No team has ever defeated Alabama twice in the same season. Oklahoma is also chasing its first playoff win, entering with a 0-4 record all-time in the CFP.

Lane Kiffin's new staff extends an offer to the talented Tennessee native, enters the race alongside multiple prominent schools.